Why China still needs to find its C-Factor (Part 2 of 3: China ↔ Europe; New Reflections on Automotive Design)

Walking the Shanghai Auto Show – all 90 acres of it – last week, there was an overwhelming sense of not-that-new-looking same-ness. Whilst the only conversation in China still seems to be how fast everything is (and the punishing work schedules enabling this), it’s increasingly hard to see to what value this speed brings — 93 world debut designs last week but few of these truly move things on, properly innovative in what they offer, or have newly distinct design. Everyone seems to be rushing to hit the ceiling just established by their leading competitors. In the context of the price-war in China that is marginalising profits and pushing brands to extinction, surely this is unsustainable, surely there is a need to break through the Chinese design ceiling..?

17 years-ago we were in China presenting for the first time ‘C-Factor’ — a term that riffs off the Design Philosophy of “J-factor” (which we co-authored with Toyota) and is short-hand for capturing the positive associations of Japan within export markets and baking this into design — an alternative strategic approach to either exporting wholly Japanese design or co-opting design directions from Europe or America (we published this piece on the topic in 2016).

Thus ‘C-factor’ is the idea to encapsulate an external idea of Chinese-ness in design that may then both uniquely appeal to export markets’ appetite for a Chinese brand whilst also aligning to its place of origin. And given how evident it is that the Chinese origin of Chinese car brands will be their most known attribute, that customers will have many positive associations with China, and that brands that leverage facets of their cultural origin to tell a distinct and authentic story win, C-Factor should be embraced within the design strategy of Chinese car brands serious about succeeding in Europe.

‘C-factor’ may be many things, affect all areas of design, and be quite variable in how it might be expressed. But it should be symbolic not literal, intangible not tangible. Some Chinese brands have variably had elements of their design derived from local cultural design, but they have tended to be abstractions of literal visual iconography — Chinese temple roofs, Chinese script, even Chinese dragons — which have no relevancy or legitimacy in sophisticated contemporary car design. To convey to overseas customers something of their Chinese origin will always best be realised though a design identity that aligns with their associations of being from China, just as car designs from Italy or Germany or the UK do this with only the smallest literal references to icons from their regions.

And C-factor might be the most discernibly ‘premium’ element of a brand’s design offer by extending beyond existing seamless UX design, embracing aspects of modern Chinese lifestyles, and delivering emotional resonance through story-telling.

With many Chinese brands now looking to export to Europe — in order to realise greater total sales, because they now have the technical maturity, and because America has closed its door — and needing to find their 2.0 Design Strategy for the Chinese market that takes them through the ceiling — so the time is ripe to harness the massive value of C-Factor and use the much untapped cultural equity of this rich country to go beyond others and deliver stronger and more premium appeal locally and internationally. Here’s hoping that the 2027 Shanghai Auto Show might show something of this!